Quote:
Originally Posted by Davis
I've always liked Subdivisions, but I never related to its message as much as I do now, thank you for that. I appreciate your thoughtful attitude toward ex-church kids who lose their way after the LC, for good or bad.
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I'm glad my post resonated somewhat. The line from Subdivisions that says ''Conform or be cast out'' always impressed me - the universality of it. We're a social species, and conformity to group norms is so endemic to our human condition, whether religion, or high school, or job site. Anyone who tries to think independently is perhaps going to have some issues along the way. But there's no choice, really - we're also built to think, to challenge, to question, to weigh alternatives. We just have to reconcile the two impulses. It's a creative tension, that we learn to live with. To be somewhat integrated and somewhat aloof.
In my case, I was a non-conformist in HS but really I just conformed to a new group, the so-called "counterculture". But it was groupthink anyway. It took me years to figure that one out. Subdivisions touches on that, too: that you drift from one box, into another, all the while thinking you're getting free, and now doing your own thing. The line about basement bars and backs of cars... instead of conforming to parents and teachers, you're conforming to your peers.
I appreciated your story about being a 6th grader at the conference where you were all supposed to get "saved". And your response of "doing the right thing", the expected and necessary ritual, while wondering inwardly at the dubious nature of it all. Thank you for taking the time to write. Your voice matters, not only for your own journey but for all the voiceless ones out there.